Toby Johnson's
titles are
available in other ebook formats from Smashwords.

Four short reviews

This article originally appeared in White
Crane Journal #42, Fall 1999

As myself a writer of fiction with a
spiritual message, I’m especially intrigued by how differently
different authors try this.

Central to the notion of the fictional novel is plot. There are many
variations, but there is a so-called “plot skeleton” that literary
novels are supposed to follow. It is, of course, the Hero Cycle, the
pattern of which appears in every TV cop show and drama: The hero is
faced with a problem. As he tries to resolve the problem he gets deeper
into it and into more trouble. When things seem at their worst, the
hero solves the problem through his own skill alone (without a deus
ex machina). He (or she) then returns to normal life bringing boons
for him or herself and for others as a result of the resolution of the
problem.

There is another kind of novel: the coming of age story and the journey
story. They really have no plot. They simply recount a series of
experiences and discoveries. Biographies are generally of this sort.
While they can be quite interesting and informative, these aren’t
really novels: they don’t have a climax and resolution.

The trick in a wisdom novel is to work the message into a real plot.
Here are four novels that in various ways convey wisdom about the
meaning of life. The first two books are specifically what are called
New Age novels, the second two mainstream gay genre novels.

High in the Andes: A Spiritual Adventure Novel

by William Michael Kaufman

Dorrance Publishing Co.

128 pages, January 1, 1999

978-0805945430

Like the immensely popular Celestine
Prophecy, this novel is set in South America, the jungles of the
Andes providing an appropriately exotic place for New Age revelations
to be discussed and discovered. The book opens on a train with a
passenger becoming hypnotized and turned inward by the rhythmic
clacking of the rails. He breaks out of his revery to discover another
passenger has sat down next to him. The newcomer recounts his fabulous
adventure while hiking in Peru.

The storyteller explains how he got separated from his hiking
companions, then slipped and hit his head. When he awoke, he had become
another person, an ancient spirit being named Narada, one of a group of
highly evolved Incan spiritual masters. One by one, his colleagues
explain to him, first how he came to lose his memory of who he really
is then what particular spiritual message each of the collegues has
come to remind him of.

One by one, basic spiritual teachings about forgiveness, energy,
meditation, reincarnation and the true nature of human consciousness
are presented, as Narada comes to understand and appreciate his true
nature.

At that point, the original traveler wakes up to realize there is no
storyteller. This has all been a dream and he is really Narada
and he must now use his spiritual power to wake himself and to
wake others to their true divine nature.

Well, there is really no plot in a novel like this. It’s just one
discussion of esoteric themes after another. But Kaufman is very good
at describing meditative and mystical experiences. This is a book of
special effects. That is what makes it a “spiritual adventure.” The
author is a gay man, though that only comes through the story obliquely.

But that he is articulating spiritual wisdom seems to me to demonstrate
nicely the gay role of mystic seer .

Planet of Darkness:

A Spirit's Journey through time and matter to save
his planet

by Jerry Belvo

Jae Publishing, 1996

150 pages

978-0965119207

Like William Kaufman, Jerry Belvo is a gay
man. He too wants to articulate ideas and wisdom he has learned as a
student of metaphysics and New Age idealism. And like High in the
Andes, Planet of Darkness

The story describes a series of meditation experiences the main
character has as he learns to expand his meditation and to communicate
with and move in other dimensions with ease. In his soul travel he
reaches a level of consciousness where he discovers the Earth is being
judged by a High Court of masters who will decide the planet’s fate.
Overpopulation and ecological disruption, arising from fundamental
ignorance contaminate Earth. With the help of the masters, the
character participates in cleaning up the contamination on a karmic
level by his meditative practice. His final realization is that all
beings are one.

As a novel, Planet of Darkness is a little clunky. But as a
description of meditative experience and a summary of mystical wisdom
it’s quite interesting and readable. It also proffers good special
effects for imaginative readers. And the message is right-on.

Where the Rainbow Ends

by Jameson Currier

Chelsea Station Press 432 pages, 1999

978-0983285168

A nostalgically lush and beautifully
written memoir of the “end of the party” and the beginning of AIDS,
this lovely, long and involving novel articulates a message about
loving life in spite of, and therefore transcending, the sometimes
horrible details. AIDS was such a horror. Gay men, like the protagonist
of this story, learned and taught an important message about
transforming horror. The novelistic technique of having a gay man
father a child as a symbol of life-affirmation seemed too standardly
heterosexual. And the long, winding narrative overran the meager plot,
but the book was truly a joy to read.

Every Man for Himself: A Novel of Love, Romance, and Finding Mr. Right

by Orland Outland

Kensington Books, 265 pages, May 1, 2000
978-1575665535

In the breezy style of a fluff, semiporn pulp, this surprisingly wise
and at times startlingly disturbing novel addresses a classic mythical
theme: what if you got what you always wanted.

By a curious quirk of modern AIDS treatment, the protagonist has been
saved from death by protease inhibitors and then, by testosterone
supplmentation and devotion to his workout routine, been transformed
from a nice but wimpy guy into a dance floor stud and sexy hunk.

His fascination with the world of beautiful boys he’s never felt
welcome in exposes him to the speed-using side of young gay life. It’s
that world and the character’s abandonment of himself to its allures
that is disturbing. But the ending—and the lesson learned from the
paradoxical problems of the fulfillment of all your desires—is very
satisfying.

It is interesting to observe that this last novel, with no pretense of
conveying gems of spiritual wisdom, probably got its message across the
best of the four. It did follow the basic plot skeleton to a T. There’s
a message here about spiritual plots and New Age novels!
doesn’t really have a plot. Again the
quest in the story is the protagonist’s search for his true, deeper
identity.

Toby Johnson, PhDis
author of nine books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of
his
teacher and "wise old man," Joseph Campbell to modern-day social and
religious problems, four gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual
issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's
spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality and editor
of a collection of "myths" of gay men's consciousness.

Johnson's book
GAY
SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of
Human Consciousness won a Lambda Literary Award in 2000.

His GAY
PERSPECTIVE: Things Our [Homo]sexuality Tells Us about the Nature
of God and the Universe was nominated for a Lammy in 2003. They
remain
in
print.

FINDING
YOUR OWN TRUE MYTH: What I Learned from Joseph Campbell: The Myth
of the Great Secret III tells the story of Johnson's learning the
real nature of religion and myth and discovering the spiritual
qualities of gay male consciousness.